Mommy-Daughter Day

Today was John's first day back at work. 

I was dreading this day a little bit, having enjoyed spending almost the last 3 weeks uninterrupted with my husband. It was wonderful.

I fell in love with him on a totally new level watching him in dad mode and seeing how caring he has been with her and with me as I birthed her and recovered from said birthing.

And now I'm home alone with a 2 week old, a dog, and a cat. 

None of whom speak or understand English. 

"Sit", "paw", "lie down", "okay", and "stay" not withstanding. 

Thankfully this little girl is an absolute angel.

She went to sleep at 11:45 last night, was up from 3:30-4:30 for a feeding, then went back down from 4;30-7:30 this morning. 

I feel like one well-rested Mama.

Next Dear Daughter post will include a promise to buy her a pony if she doesn't change her sleeping habits for the next few weeks.

This is my plan for today. 

Be warned, it's ambitious:

• Enjoy a hot cup of coffee. Real, caffeinated coffee.
• Watch the premiere of The Bachelor from last Monday.
• Do exercise of some sort. Use baby as weight.
• Do laundry.
• Blog about being a new mom.

___________________________________________________

Coffee - consumed in bed, snuggled with baby & dog while watching Breakfast Television. Coffee remained warm throughout consumption. Do not anticipate this trend lasting.

Bachelor - watched. Will this truly be the most dramatic season yet? I'm glad we can have some Mother-Daughter bonding over trashy TV. John has no interest in it. I need to start Evelyn early so I have a partner in crime. 

Exercise - did 25 squats. Then ate a ziplock bag full of skittles. Plan to continue to do some squats and lunges around the house with the babe. Maybe lay out the yoga mat and do some stretches later.

Laundry - 2 loads! This day has been QUITE a success.

Blog - I've started up a sister blog to keep track of all my parenting adventures so that this blog doesn't just become all about the little baby that I'm currently obsessed with. My goal is to post every Tuesday and I will post the link on this blog for convenience :)

The new blog can be found here at Tuesdayfullofgrace.blogspot.com 

Let's hope tomorrow is as successful as today was! 

Tomorrows goals include take a shower, eat something other than ice cream for lunch, and watch some Sherlock

Motherhood (and how it happened)

After waiting an extra week, our little girl finally made her way into the world.

Our sweet, perfect Evelyn Grace was born Tuesday December 30th at 5:18 pm weighing 7 lbs 15 ounces.

Birth story coming up - turn back now if you don't want to read about it.

On Monday morning I woke up, went to the bathroom as per usual, and realized I was losing my mucus plug. We had an ultrasound at 2:30 and an OB appointment afterward where we would be setting a date to induce me. 

The ultrasound was fine, so the doctor did an internal exam and immediately after my water broke. All over the exam table!

I didn't realize it had happened until the doctor said, "oh, I think your water just broke!" And sure enough I felt like I had peed on the table. 

Suddenly, plans were changing.

John and I had decided that, if given the choice, we would opt for an induction on Thursday the 1st for a 2015 baby. We even planned to go to the Keg for dinner the night before for one last date night before we were parents. 

The doctor went to get John and as soon as he walked in I told him my water had broken. His facial expressions mirrored my emotions - excitement, terror, happiness and panic.

The plan now was to go home and wait for contractions to start. If nothing had warranted a trip to the hospital by midnight, we were to head down to be admitted and I'd be given meds to get the contractions going.

We drove home, both managed to keep it together, and made our game plan. We would make sure we had everything ready to go, watch a movie, tidy up, and spend the evening on the couch relaxing.

By 11 pm I was only having mild contractions and there was no rhythm or increasing pattern to them. We dropped the dog off at John's parents' and got to the hospital just after midnight. 

I was 1 cm dilated so they hooked me up to the pitocin and we settled in for the night. 

I woke up around 4 with increasingly intense contractions. I also had a few episodes of diarrhea which is horrible when coupled with contractions. 

I had one very intense contraction that caused me to sit up and when I did I was convinced I had peed all over the bed. Turns out it was just the rest of my water breaking but I was convinced that the bed would be soaked (it wasn't).

After that the contractions continued to build and I opted for the epidural.

One blunt but wise nurse told us to get as much sleep as we could because labour could take days and I would need my strength for pushing.

I got the epidural and it was bliss after that. The epidural seemed like such a scary thing - a giant needle being pushed into my spine - but it was nothing. The only thing I felt was the initial needle to freeze the area. After that it was a tiny bit of pressure but nothing painful, not even uncomfortable. 

After that we tried to sleep but it was hard for me to roll side to side so my sleep wasn't great. And I can't imagine John got a much better sleep on his pull out bed-chair contraption. 

At 6 am the doctor checked me and I was only 2 cm dilated but much more effaced. Some progress.

Family started to filter in, I met Dr. Berger who would be delivering my girl, and I craved a burger while I made due with my jello and popsicle and juice. 
At around 10 am they checked me again and I was 4-5 cm dilated.  Half way there!

By 2 pm I was about 7 cm dilated. 
Around 3 pm I started to feel the contractions a bit more intensely. My pitocin had been upped to a fairly high level which made the contractions very close together with little relief in between. The nurse explained that when they initially put in the epidural they give a higher dose to ensure that the area freezes but that this wears off over time. John and I tried unsuccessfully to get back to the level of comfort I was at before by giving myself a dose every 10 minutes but after 30-40 minutes of that it was evident that the epidural was starting to wear off in the upper half of my abdomen. Thankfully they were able to give me a top up dose and after that I was in heaven again. A little dopey but much more comfortable. 
All I wanted to do after that was sleep. 
So I did. 
I closed my eyes and slept.
When I woke up around 4:30 the nurse was checking me again and I was instantly awake when she said, "okay, we're ready to push. Let's get set up!"
John went to get my sister from the waiting room and our family members then also left the waiting room and gathered in the hall outside of the delivery room. 
As scared as I was to actually be in the process now of actively having a baby, I was excited as well.
After about 30-40 minutes of pushing (pushing, for the record, is HARD. Way way harder than I expected it to be. I thought I was going to pass out a few times), our little girl had arrived. The nurse brought in a mirror so I could watch the birth and holy cow... watching her head come out and seeing her face... there aren't words to describe how magical it is. 

Our beautiful daughter entered the world at 5:18 pm on Tuesday December 30th. 

John cut the cord and the doctors went in for an intense internal exam because they were afraid part of my placenta hadn't come out. This was by far the most painful and uncomfortable part of the entire process. 
Thankfully I didn't need stitches.

We were moved into the post-partum room after about an hour. 
Family came to ooh and ahh and we did the same, just staring at this perfect little human we had brought into the world. 

I learned how to waddle to the bathroom and only peed my pants once. I made it right into the bathroom and had just closed the door behind me when my bladder just let go. 
Thankfully I was wearing one of the giant pads the hospital gives you so it absorbed most of the damage. 

Why did I share that? There should be no shame if you pee your pants after giving birth.
Those muscles need time to recover! 

We stayed 3 nights in total as the nurses wanted to be sure I didn't have an infection since my water had broken more than 24 hours before she was born.

I also had my first I'm-a-terrible-mother breakdown (highly influenced also by raging hormones and 2 nights of no sleep) when Evelyn spent the third night unconsolably fussing and the nurses couldn't give me any advice beyond "just keep breastfeeding". 
In the morning our nurse, and my favourite of all of the nurse we had, suggested we give her a bit of formula in case she was hungry and my colostrum wasn't producing enough just yet. She gulped down the formula then immediately settled to sleep.
So I cried. 
Because obviously it was clear that 2 days into motherhood I couldn't provide for my daughter. 
The wonderful nurse assured me this wasn't the case.

Thankfully, Evelyn continues to have her fussy, inconsolable moments but she does eventually settle and we know that she is well fed. 

We spent our New Years cuddled together on John's pull out bed chair sipping champagne and watching the fireworks at City Hall from the window. 
It was actually quite romantic and definitely a New Years Eve I will never forget. 

Hard to believe we've had our beautiful little bug for a whole week now.
Things are starting to feel like routine and we're getting the hang of this parenting thing - although every day is different and sleep is hit or miss. 

Pictures of the little bug to come! 

Announcement...

Sorry for the lack of posts recently!

We've spent the last week moving into our new place.
I'm completely in love with it and thought I'd have a much harder time saying goodbye to the apartment we've lived in for the past 6 years.
I guess it's hard to be sad about a dishwasher, a garden, a big back yard, etc.

There's also another reason I've been busy...

John and I are going to be parents!

The little bean is due in December.

I had my first ultrasound about a week and a half ago and saw it's little heart fluttering and watched it stretch out it's legs.

I've never fallen so hopelessly in love with another person so immediately.

Vacation: Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas

Recently I was fortunate enough to be able to spend 4 days in the Bahamas with John, my sister and her boyfriend. 

It came right as I was starting to get over my cold and right when I needed a break from work and the ever worsening winter weather. 

We flew in to Nassau on the Thursday morning and quickly changed into bathing suits and hit the beach with some vacation beers.

We stayed at the Harbourside resorts for the first night before moving to the Coral Towers for the remaining two. 

Atlantis has several communities I suppose you could call them: Harbourside was where the insane multi-million dollar boats come to dock. We oohed and ahhed and wondered how the other half lived. Then I checked myself a realized how lucky I already was being able to afford to jet away to the surf and sand for a few days.

For dinner one night we hit up the highly recommended Fish Fry, a kind of plaza of restaurants over the bridge from Paradise Island on the main island.

The food was amazing and way better priced than the tourist stuff on Paradise Island. 

Plus the food was more traditional of the Bahamas and not the standard Western fare we found in Atlantis. 

I wanted chicken and fish (weird but true) and more local eats rather than Quiznos and Starbucks and Johnny Rockets.

I ordered the chicken with rice and peas, coleslaw and plantain.

Robin got lobster, Aaron got grouper, and John got red snapper.

I tried all three of their seafood options and can honestly say I would have ordered any of them had I gone back.

The red snapper was particularly delicious.

We spent most of our nights there wandering around the vast grounds, walking through the aquarium at night and taking in the views.

We were also lucky enough to get the 'Taste of Atlantis" package which included a free drink or food samples at many of the restaurants.

Continuing to surprise myself, I drank my margarita and really enjoyed it.

Note: In first year university I ruined tequila for myself and haven't been able to even smell it since.

Eating fish and drinking tequila. Big changes.

AND - I didn't get seasick on our catamaran trip!

We booked a 3 1/2 hour sail around the island, drinking up the sun (and rum punch) and snorkeling on a reef full of colourful fish.

This is where I got a bit seasick and had to return to the boat after about 30 mins of riding up and down the waves and getting mouthfuls of salt water.

That night we ventured to another string of restaurants under the bridge to get a highly recommended (by my sister and her boyfriend who had already been once) conch salad.

Had I known what conch looks like prior to this I probably would not have eaten it but I didn't, and I tried it, and it was better than I anticipated.

(I also had a mussel the night we went out to Cafe Matisse and spent most of our money on wine and Italian food.)

Basically I think seafood is slowly starting to catch on.

Behind the restaurant we saw where they were keeping the conch

so we asked if we could have a shell to bring home.

Our host kindly agreed and brought us two shells before we headed back (in the rain) to Atlantis.

We stayed up late talking and drinking proseco and when we began to pack up our stuff, Aaron commented how heavy our shells felt. 

Sure enough when we peaked in we discovered that our shells had only been cleaned superficially and the inhabitants were still very much alive inside of their shells.

Long story short, we didn't bring those shells home.

Being a collector of shells from most places I go, I was disappointed.

But the trip was so full of crazy adventures that in the end it didn't matter.

Things I don't have pictures of (yet): going down all of the fast and often very steep (the Leap of Faith is almost a complete vertical drop before you fly through the shark tank) water slides, spending hours floating down the not-so-lazy river (complete with rapids), and WALKING WITH REEF & NURSE SHARKS.

John has those pictures and video.

I'll share them as soon as I get them!

The Bahamas can be expensive but Atlantis is never boring. 

And it may be the place that finally convinced me that seafood ain't so bad.

Fam Jam 2012

We got home this afternoon after a wonderful weekend at the lake for Fam Jam 2012.

Though we were down a few family members, we had a beautiful day on Saturday, sunshine for some of Sunday followed by a rainy day spent inside watching the Olympics, lots of great food, games, and lots of laughs.

Sunday, in between rain showers, we managed to get almost everyone out into the lake at the same time.

Saturday night was a very sweet celebration of our upcoming wedding. My cousins set up an awesome photo booth complete with the most incredible (and appropriately hilarious) props ever.

These are two of my personal favourites, as modeled by their daughter:

Bill Murray: the actor & the cat.

They also organized a wine shower (we are now the very proud and very excited owners of a large number of bottles of wine) and made a desert of the best thing ever: s'mores. Done 3 ways. S'mores mini pies, s'mores cookies, and s'mores squares (made like rice krispies squares only with golden grahams and chocolate chips) (these might have been my favourite considering I had 3 of them).

They also brought moustache cookies as a thank you for everyone who sponsered my cousin during Movember. He is a big supported of Movember and raises a lot of money for prostrate cancer research by growing a respectable (or not so respectable) moustache. Currently, he's rocking a pretty serious beard, to his wife's dismay and to my dad's awe.

On Sunday me, John, my sister, and her boyfriend all got to work in the kitchen to make a meal for our 'Cinqo de August' night. In trying to come up with a theme it was either that or 'Olympics' but to come up with a meal for 'Olympics' was impossible.

And Mexican food can be done relatively on the cheap.

We cooked up some beef, sauteed some peppers, baked some pulled pork quesadillas, and put out a whole bunch of fillings for burritos and tacos including refried beans, black beans, Mexican rice, tomatoes, salsa & salsa verde, cheese, and guacamole.

You really can't go wrong with Mexican.

Inspired by these but not wanting to put THAT much effort into it (what? Look at how many steps are involved!) I tried to make a pinata cake.

As most great ideas of mine tend to do, it failed when the cake fell apart once it came out of the pan.

But with some icing and mushing together, the cake stood and was filled with candy to spill out once it was cut into.

And since Sunday was my birthday I got to cut into the cake wearing the birthday Sombrero.

Thanks to my family for these pictures (my camera's broken), a fun birthday, a very sweet shower, and an awesome long weekend!

Fam Jam 2013: 363 days to plan next year's theme dinner.

Cottage Fam Jam 2011: Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I'm back from a long weekend at the cottage with my family.

It's always an exciting weekend full of food, water, sun, food, camp fires, laughs, and more food.

My mom, John, and I arrived late on Friday night and immediately dug into the fajitas and queso dip that my cousin Zach had made.

Delicious.

I would eat anything if it had queso on it.

After a good night's sleep we woke up on Saturday to sunshine, warm weather, pancakes, sausages, and coffee.

We hit the water and lay our towels out to soak up the sun.

Saturday night we were treated to a Baseball themed dinner.

Popcorn, sunflower seeds, candied popcorn, and beer awaited us.

We picked out hot dogs and used guides to dress them. I went with a mish-mash of toppings and added just about everything there was. It was superb.

There was also caeser salad and soft baked pretzels and cheese (hello queso round wo!) which were a wonderful touch.

Perhaps my favourite part (for selfish reasons) was the Cracker Jack's. They were special Jamie edition - withouth peanuts!

The caramel corn was so good I had 2 bags. 

And a 3rd the next night.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures from Sunday night's dinner but now I'm off to work with some new Bridal magazines.

Easter Recap

Easter weekend has been wonderful.

4 days off...can't complain!

I drove to Ottawa with my mom and John on Saturday morning and had a lovely BBQ dinner courtesy of Mike & Andrea.

There was also a cheese dip served that I could not stop eating no matter how far away from it I tried to move myself. I would like the recipe for that one....

I got to play with two little cutie pies and catch up with my family.

On Sunday we all headed over to my Aunt Wendy & Uncle Bob's place and decorated the aptly named Easter Branch, formerly known as the Christmas Branch. We decorated it on boxing day with bird food and pinecones.

The beautiful Easter decorations - hand painted by Wendy.

 There were also delicious cookies, mud cake, and lots of chocolate, ham and pork tenderloin, chips and dip, and more food than my stomach could handle! It was a delicious meal.

Add on top of that that we also got great weather! Finally. I went sleeveless and tried to tan my poor white arms. The sun was very much appreciated, especially since it's supposed to rain now for the entire week!

And, of course, we brought some props to make the family photo that much more embarassing.

*** The picture is too big to fit entirely on the screen so just click on it to see the whole fam!

Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend!

P.S. I'm running the Sporting Life 10 k next Sunday so I will be soliciting donations in the next few days!

P.P.S. I finally made the tiramisu. Pictures to be posted asap.

Waiting for the Big Reveal.....

2 posts in one day.....you guys are sooo lucky.

I've been very anxiously hovering around my computer pretty much all day....waiting patiently and not so patiently to hear the big reveal.

And I bet the vast majority of readers of this blog are also waiting on pins and needles for the same reason.

Which will it be???

BIG Congrats to Jennie and Adam today :)

Now hurry up and let us all know!

Happy Father's Day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

For the Dad who blamed you for pressing the nurse call bell when your sister was born.

For the Dad who walked to school wheeling two bikes so that you and your sister could cycle home.

For the Dad who did cartwheels on the front lawn with you.

For the Dad's who fixes things, often with mixed results ;)

For the Dad who cried with you the night before you moved out.

For the new Dad's, Happy first Father's Day.

For the soon-to-be first time Dad's, congratulations!

For the Dad's who have come and gone, you will always be in our hearts.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Here's a Cheeseburger recipe from Martha for any man or woman who loves the grill

Martha's Classic Cheeseburger

you will need:

• 2 pounds ground beef, preferably chuck
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 ounces cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 hamburger buns
• 2 tomatoes (12 ounces), sliced
• 8 leaves Bibb lettuce (1 small head)
• 1 small red onion, sliced

To make:

• Heat a grill or grill pan to medium high. Season meat with salt and pepper, mix very lightly, and shape into four patties. Grill hamburgers 4 to 6 minutes per side for rare and 9 to 11 minutes for well done. If making cheeseburgers, lay cheese slices on top of the hamburgers after they have been flipped.
• Serve immediately on buns (toasted, if desired), topped with tomatoes, lettuce, and onion slices.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is so much more than a day to bring your mom a bouquet of flowers. It's a day to appreciate all of the little things she does. Like the time she walked 30 minutes through a snow storm to bring you Tylenol when you were babysitting and had a bad headache. Like the time she curled up on the bathmat beside you when you spent the night in the washroom with a stomach bug. Like the numerous times she was up hours before the sun to make sure you were dressed and ready for your competition.
My mom has done all of these things. She is an incredible woman and more importantly an incredible mom.
Happy Mother's Day, mom.
I hope one day I can do all of the same things for my own children that you did for me.

And to my grandmother's who have been there for guidance, my aunt's who provide support and funny insight into why my parents are the way they are, my cousins who have recently become mother's themselves (Congrats Andrea! I hope your first mother's day is a beautiful one, and congrats to Lena who just had a baby boy recently!), and who are mother's to very lucky pets (people who argue animals are not family members are heartless haha) - to big sisters and friends who often find themselves giving motherly advice.
To all mother's of every shape and form -
THANK YOU

For my mom we ordered Greek food (which was quickly devoured) and it inspired me to put up a recipe that I am desperate to try out. I had it for the first time in Montreal at the suggestion of my friend Danielle and oh. my. lord. I am so glad I tried it!

Moussaka
(recipe courtesy of marthastewart.com)

Picture from http://lovelyrecipes.files.wordpress.com

To make this you will need:

• 2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for eggplant
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 medium eggplants (about 2 pounds)
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
• Olive-oil cooking spray

To put it all together:

1. Drain yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve until thickened, 2 hours or overnight.
2. Place turkey in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl. Add onion, garlic, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and pepper to saucepan; cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Return turkey to saucepan with tomatoes, tomato paste, and oregano. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low; simmer until sauce has thickened, about 1 hour. Remove from heat; stir in chopped parsley; set aside.
3. Preheat broiler. While sauce cooks, cut eggplants into 1/4-inch slices. Sprinkle with salt on both sides. Place in a colander over a bowl; let stand 1 hour to drain. Discard liquid; rinse each slice under cold running water to remove all salt and juice. Place slices on several layers of paper towels; press out water. Lay dry slices on a clean baking sheet; coat with olive-oil spray; broil until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn; coat with olive-oil spray; broil until browned, about 2 minutes more. Repeat until all eggplant slices have been broiled; set cooked eggplant aside.
4. Place drained yogurt in a small bowl. Add Parmesan and eggs. Whisk together briskly with a fork; set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Assemble moussaka: Place a layer of eggplant on the bottom of an 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Cover with half the turkey sauce. Place another eggplant layer, then the remaining turkey sauce.Add a final eggplant layer; cover with reserved yogurt mixture. Bake until mixture is bubbling and top starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a heat-proof surface; let sit until moussaka cools slightly and firms, about 10 minutes. Cut into squares; serve.

I have a cookie recipe and a biscotti recipe to post this week. I made Earl Grey Tea Cookies and Cranberry Corn Meal Biscotti for John to take with him on his second week away :(
Back to Grimsby for work for another week.
Looks like my mom is going to be planning another sleep over!

Easter Long Weekend!

I haven't posted anything since the Easter weekend so you can have it all now!

Metcalfe was a lot of fun and it was nice to get (almost) all of the family together.

On Saturday night we all went over to Aunt Wendy and Uncle Bob's place for a BBQ and more food than I thought was humanly possible. My Jamaica diet was not only tested but chloroformed, dragged into a back alley and beaten mercilessly ..

But My God was it worth it!

They had the BIGGEST wheel of brie I have ever seen in my life and I'm proud (ashamed?) to say that I ate a pizza-sized slice of it. Plus the famous nacho dip, Nanny's "squares" (yes, that's what I call them. Tracy understands), and then the BBQ food. So good.

Oh and then chocolate and delicious and adorable cupcakes from Andrea!

I repeat, SO GOOD.

Here's the gang in our bunny ears.

Sorry you all had to wear them but gosh darn it don't you all just look adorable?

On the recipe front I made some brownies for the Thursday night staff at work. I won't take credit for the actual brownies as I was pressed for time so just bought two boxes. BUT I did make the royal icing and I decorated little easter eggs on each one.

Cuuuuuuute.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter Long Weekend!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again.

~Enid Bagnold

If that ain't the truth, I don't know what is. My father has the wonderful ability to make me feel like a smart, educated woman, and at the same time can make me feel like a little girl again.

He has such an infectious youthful view of the world that it's hard not to get excited along with him at baseball games, going out for dinner, etc.

For the Monday night sing-alongs, the Tuesday night pick-ups, the groceries, and the Murray visits - Thank you!

And for the years of jokes (not always good ones haha), adventures, baseball games, long talks and small talks, Ireland trips, Florida drives, running stories, music, sunday paper trivia, laughs, tears, and the love....

Thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I love you.

See you in a few for some huge bowls of spaghetti :)

P.S. I'm taking a risk here and assuming that he won't check my blog until AFTER dinner...

but here's his cake!

I was going to use fondant for the bases but decided I'd wait and open the package once I would use more than just a few strips of it. I used royal icing instead (Thank you Wendy for the meringue powder!!!).